As computers become a more and more important part of our lives, the security of the computers becomes increasingly important. All too often, news reports describe the vulnerability of computers in one form or another. Between hackers breaking into “secure” computers, virus alerts, and warnings about newly discovered vulnerabilities in computer operating systems, computer security is kept in the public eye.
To help address security issues, many security devices have become commonplace in computer networks. Businesses have awakened to the need for firewalls, intrusion detection systems, virus scanning software and logging/monitoring devices (the last item used to analyze an attack on the corporate network after the immediate threat has been addressed). And with the increasing concern about employees using business computers for non-business tasks, employers are also using proxy servers. Proxy servers watch outgoing traffic and block inappropriate activities (such as visits to offensive web sites or the use of software, such as Java or ActiveX that should not be used).
But the way a security policy is implemented on these security devices is somewhat haphazard. Policy is set at the top of the corporate pyramid, and propagated downward to the persons who manage the various security devices. Each security device receives its own programming to define the security policy as it is to be enforced by the individual security device. There is no coordination between the various security devices to ensure that all the holes are filled. And while there are firewalls capable of providing inputs to other firewalls (expecting different inputs), these are a special case.
An additional problem arises with devices that may be taken outside the corporate network. An employee may use a computer outside the network (such as a laptop computer supplied by the company, the employee's home computer, or wireless devices, such as Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs)) to access the corporate network from outside. There is currently no way for the corporate security policy to be enforced with respect to mobile devices. For example, although corporate policy may dictate that ActiveX be disabled in computer browsers, the user on the remote computer may enable ActiveX with a few simple commands. And since the remote computer connects to the Internet without going through the corporate proxy server, this violation of the corporate policy may not be detected.
A need remains for a way to addresses these and other problems associated with the prior art.